Biathlon Racing Season Is Over

With the exception of the Polar Cup Spring series in the Scandinavian countries, the racing season is over. However, after a relaxing April, the athletes will be back training full-time on May 1st. Click on the text to access a link to watch a short video about our best biathlete - Tim Burke - and how he will be training for next season.

Unclimbed: southeast ridge of annapurna III

Several years ago in the issue Alpinist 3, there was an article about the best unclimbed lines in the world. Click on this text to access a short essay on Dougald Macdonald's blog, evaluating where we stand on those same routes. The photograph is a picture of the still unclimbed SE ridge of Annapurna III in Nepal. (Bottom-line ... about half of the routes are still unclimbed.)

Video: Chamonix Alpine Ice

This short video shows two climbers doing an ascent of the classic Welzenbach route (grade TD) on the north face of the Grand Charmoz. Click on this text to access the link, and watch these modern day climbers using radically curved ice tools, and then imagine what this route must have been like using the ice axes of 1931.

Video: 180 Degrees South

Click on the text to access two trailers for this soon to be released movie. The story-line is simple, this video is a recreation of Chouinard and the "funhogs" 10,000 mile journey in 1968 to Patagonia. Starting in Yosemite, they surfed, sailed, and climbed their way to the very tip of South America.

Missing It Already

Now that I am back at the desk - not logging lots of kilometers or floating up heinous boulder problems - its time to cut back on sweets. It is always a sad day, when sedentary life returns and I can't just indiscriminately scarf down pastries at Schat's Bakkery. Ultimately I think that is the real reason I keep going back to the Sierras.

It's Still Winter

While the calendar may say Spring has come, in the Adirondacks the skiing is still awesome, and on the North side of Pitchoff (background of photograph) there is still good ice. I just got in from a 10K skating workout (42 minutes), lightning fast conditions, spectacular grooming, and great coverage. So, if you are a Fossil wondering what to do on Easter ... come North.

Spring Break

The rest of the family returned today, after a two day marathon drive from Florida. A good time was had by all, with lots of reading and pool time being the major attraction. Lucy did a couple of good bike tours with Selden, as well as some paddling, and birding. (Lucy is excited to get back on her cross country skis though, as conditions are still quite good over on the Olympic trails.)

News from down under

Tori and Greg continue to do well, and now have both an apartment and a car. Hannah Ewing has just flown down to New Zealand for a couple of months recreation ... all Fossils are invited for a visit. As you can see from the picture - Mount Cook looming in the background - these are seriously big-league peaks.

Sierra Miscellany

Additional photos from: a tour up tioga pass, a tour near Crystal Crag, and the ski museum at Mammoth. It was a great week on the East side of the Sierras.

Video: more Danny

Danny does the Sierras

By now all of you know that Catherine passed away the week before last; the stress and sadness for Danny and the kids can only be guessed at. After dealing with the immediate grieving process, and all the necessary logistics, Danny took a couple of days to clear his head, breath some fresh air, and start to think about the future. I was happy to spend time with him, glad to be able to cheer him up, and help him put his mind - for a brief while - on other things and happier times. We skied, did yoga, ate pastry at Schaat's, bouldered, and had dinners at Petite Pantry. Calling all fossils, pick up the phone and give him a call, he can use our support.

Driving to the East Side!

After saying goodbye to Mark and Liz I headed off to Bishop. A quick check on my iPhone revealed that the next week's weather was going to be awesome ... I was psyched. Heading toward Spooner Pass the sunset was spectacular, however by 10 PM when I was falling asleep at the wheel, I pulled off at a closed campsite north of Bridgeport. The elevation was over 7000', the temperature dropped into the low 20s, and too tired to set up the mega-mid or get out my warm clothes out, I froze my buns off. However, the next morning I had some tea at a gas station, and I had the Travertine Hot Springs all to myself. I set up my mega-mid just outside Bishop, at the climber's campground in Pleasant Valley. With the tent up, my pile clothing on, and a drop of several thousand feet in elevation ... I was toasty warm!

Fossil linkup in the Sierras

My combined business and vacation trip started with a horrific travel day ... delays, sleeping in terminals, and waiting for luggage. However, it all felt better when I got to Squaw Valley and hooked up with Mark for a short tour in the meadow. Afterwards we met up with Hannah and Liz who had been skiing on the mountain. Unfortunately Mark was heading back to San Diego and I continued on to the East side of the Sierras. (We had a longer visit the following weekend when I was headed back to the Bay Area on school business.)

Colorado Outward Bound

I was reading Lou Dawson's "Wild Snow" blog and stumbled across his article about an instructor reunion. It brought back such great memories from my summers at Marble Basecamp and the Leadville winter courses. Many thanks to John Waterman for introducing me to the organization, and to Leslie Emerson for hiring me. The names and faces seem like it was only yesterday: Kimberly, John Evans, the Matous brothers, Paul Parker, Nelson, Lucy, Peter Athens, Maggie, and many more. Click on this text to access the blog article.

Fantastic Spring Skiing

As this was the last day of the term, I treated myself to both a morning and late afternoon ski. Conditions are fabulous and the weather continues to seem more like Colorado than the East coast! After a casual tour of the "Ladies Five" Olympic trail I headed over the bridge to the biathlon trails. As you can see there were spectacular views of Cascade and Pitchoff.

I am excited to be heading out to california in a few days ... skiing and climbing on the east side of the Sierras and then seeing alumni in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

(Oh, and my daughter Lucy broke the all-time NCS record 4th-5th-6th graders on the 2.5K time trial ... 10:04 or just about four minutes per kilometer.)

Avalanche Conditions in the Adirondacks

Last week the larger of the Angels Slides on Wright peak avalanched. The skier on it escaped with minor bruises. In good conditions this has been skied by NCS students and staff. Click on this text to read an article and watch a short video on a subsequent test pit on the narrower slide.

Fossil Sauna

Did you tweak your shoulder pulling the overhang? Or, maybe your quads are brutalized from too many tele-turns? Or, just worn out from a long hike or ski tour ... the fossil sauna is ready to be fired up! I skied a hilly 7.5K and then baked for a bit before a quick rub-down with snow. Come on up for a visit.

Kudos to Selden who almost finished converting this tool shed, into a gem of a fossil sauna.

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival

This is one of the oldest continuously running winter carnivals, most famous for its gigantic ceremonial ice house. Every year they have a two week mix of events which run the gamut from the serious to the hilarious. Most years we bring a crew of novice NCS nordic racers to do a short 2.5 kilometer freestyle event. The real attraction though is the candy given out at the finish, since that is contraband at school.

(Of course I couldn't resist putting a few pictures from the Olympics in there to inspire the kids.)

Video: south ridge of L'Index

A couple of years ago Larry and I had an amazing two week trip to Chamonix, in which we accomplished 10-11 routes in that short span. We did 2-3 rock routes on the Aiguilles Rouges, including the 5.7 classic on the south ridge of L'Index. This peak is also famous - as you will see - for the herd of chamois that play about these crags. Click on this text to enjoy a six minute video from French TV.


(As always you may click on the photograph to enlarge it.)

The 2010 Census

Imagine our surprise, when we waded through thigh deep new snow, to see that the census folks had broke trail out to the cabin, thinking it was inhabited!

Fossils Come And Visit

The days are longer and warmer, but the winter sports are better than ever. The ice is still terrific ... notice the enclosed picture of a new route done last week in the Adirondacks. The nordic skiing is fantastic, and the spring backcountry season is shaping up to be superb. Gary and Brian ... come visit!

Next Year ... ski the haute route

From Chamonix to Zermatt, the best ski mountaineering excursion on the planet. We will head over in mid-March, and you should plan 10-12 days for this adventure. (This will give us time to wait out the occasional storm, or bag some peaks along the way. Then too, who is up for the North face of the Matterhorn when we are done?)

Radio Interview: Steve House and "Beyond the Mountain."

Click on this link to access a radio interview with Steve House where he talks about the writing of his recent book.

Click on the text to access a link to a recent newspaper article about Robel Teklemariam (Ethiopian Olympic nordic skier) and how he learned to ski at North Country School. The enclosed picture is from the closing ceremonies, when he was hanging out with the host Canadian team.

Greg's Out In The Mountains

Fossil friend Greg sent this picture of Mosquito Pass to the blog. He did a trans-Sierra tour (Desolation Wilderness), camping out with a tarp along the way. Of course beautiful Sierra weather was the norm.

Quote of the Week

"The most important thing is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well."

Pierre De Coubertin

Now that the Olympics are behind us, the quick summary is that the US Nordic Combined Team made a transformative breakthrough. Not only did we win our first medal ever, but the first gold medal as well, and five medals total. For the other nordic events ... Jeremy Teela's 9th place in biathlon was a best ever result for a US Olympian, as was Kikkan Randall and Caitlin Compton's sixth place finish in the team sprint competition.